


It’s a Wonderful Afterlife

by Aquatic_Beetles



Category: Beetlejuice (TV 1989), Beetlejuice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22865485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquatic_Beetles/pseuds/Aquatic_Beetles
Summary: (Based after the events of the episode of the cartoon with the same name) Beetlejuice has chosen to forsake his afterlife and leave everything behind. Nobody should remember anything about him especially since he never existed, but in a quiet rural Connecticut town, someone remembers and is determined to bring him back.
Relationships: Claire Brewster/Lydia Deetz
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	1. False Normalcy

Lydia’s eyes flickered open, her striped pajama top was soaked in sweat from the strange recurring nightmare that had jolted her awake. It had almost seemed… real. Everything about it was so vivid, from the huge blue gray building with it’s huge neon signs, to the strange skeleton and spider that lived within. However what was truly the most real seeming thing from her dream was that strange man, with his wild green hair and filthy striped suit. No matter what horrors her nightmares would throw at her, he was always… there. His presence was calming and friendly even if she didn’t quite understand it.

Lydia sighed, snapped herself out of thought, and looked over at her alarm clock. She frowned when she read the time, 4:30, “fuck” she thought. she still had another 2 hours before school and it was pretty damn clear that she wasn’t getting back to sleep any time soon. She groaned and flopped out of bed, Delia wasn’t gonna be thrilled that Lydia was up so early but she didn’t quite care. She stumbled over to her desk and pushed her sewing supplies out of the way. She grabbed her sketchbook, a beaten up red and black book with ruined binding and spooky stickers covering the front, she flipped through the pages filled with pencil drawings of monsters from her past dreams. When she finally found a blank page, she started sketching out the creature she had narrowly escaped that night. 

-

The school bell rang impatiently as Lydia sat on the front steps. She looked up at the building and frowned, another day of dealing with her classmates jeering. God, if her life wasn’t miserable enough already with Delia and Charles barely acknowledging her existence, her classmates, especially Claire, just had to barge in and make it worse. She picked up her books and walked to class, as she walked she sort of absentmindedly started thinking of that man in her dreams again.”His smile, although very strange and monstrous is oddly comforting, almost like the smile of…” her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the slam of a nearby locker and the jingle of dangling earrings.  
“Oh look it’s the ghost haunting our school! Oh! Wait. It’s just Lydia.” A sickeningly sweet voice jeered from behind her, Lydia turned around and saw her, Claire Brewster, the richest and bitchiest girl in school. She was tall, with long golden curly hair topped off with a light blue bow, she wore sparkly pink eyeshadow and pink lipstick which complimented her uniform fairly well. Her personality may not have been pretty, but Claire herself wasn’t awful looking.  
“Hello Claire.” Lydia said bluntly as she walked faster. She was tired as hell and absolutely did not want to deal with Claire today, she just wanted to get to class. 

-

Claire looked across the hall at the pale, almost ghostly girl. Her jet black hair was cut in a wavy shoulder length style with blunt bangs, and she wore a barrette that was shaped like a glittering silver spider. “She’s pretty, in a weird sort of ghostly way” Claire thought, but she quickly banished the thought from her head, her parents had always told her that girls should never have feelings for other girls. In an attempt to ignore her feelings she yelled over at Lydia again  
“Hey! Don’t run from me FREAK!”  
Claire ignored the pang she felt in her heart when she said those words. Lydia ignored her and kept walking to class.  
“Ugh no wonder you’re always so alone, you monster!” Claire spat as she angrily followed Lydia into their classroom, the bell ringing loudly as she did. 

-

Lydia did her best to pay attention to the teacher in the front of the classroom but the droning algebra lecture but she found it near impossible to focus. Her thoughts kept drifting elsewhere and as she spaced out, she absentmindedly started to doodle on her math notes. A tall, slumping, robust man with long untamed green hair, his smile was made up of a strange mix of long fangs and crooked human teeth, and his eyes were wild but oddly friendly. She snapped out of thought as she heard quiet laughing from her classmates behind her. Lydia sighed, oh what she would give to at least have one friend in this miserable school, even if that one friend happened to be the monster-like man she had doodled in her notes. She looked back up at the teacher in an attempt to ignore the snickering behind her. 

The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful, Lydia had presented her project on garden slugs, which went just about as horribly as it could especially when the entire class decided to compare her to the slugs she presented on. In art class her teacher continuously asked why Lydia only seemed to draw monsters,  
“Why don’t you paint something like the flowers that Bertha over there is painting!” the teacher had said, but the mere idea of painting something so overdone made Lydia bored out of her skull.  
During recess she got to sit in her little nook behind the bushes though. It was a lovely little corner where most of the other girls wouldn’t bother going to, perfect for drawing or sewing. She had reached into her backpack and pulled out her sketchbook to sketch out a plushie design. Lydia had never sewn any sort of plushie before but she felt like her imaginary monster man should be her first. She dug around in her backpack looking for the spare light gray fleece fabric she had stuffed in there and her mini sewing kit. When she found her supplies she set to work drawing a pattern onto the soft fleece. It wasn’t the easiest fabric to work with, Lydia realized, but it was what she had. As she was finishing up the initial stitching base of the plushie, the bell to go inside rang. Nothing really unusual or strange happened during her other classes, it was routine and it was dull but that’s just how life is in rural Connecticut. 

\- - - -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god! It’s my first genuine unironic fanfic! So I actually originated this AU in cosplay form (@aquatic_despair on Instagram or TikTok if you wanna see that) but since people seem to like it so much I’ve decided to start writing a fic telling the story of the AU. It’s something I’m quite passionate about so I’m really really thankful for all the support it has gotten so far!
> 
> Thank you to my lovely test readers, @blind-band-geek, @eggosandxmen  
> my lovely boyfriend Jake, and my wonderful friends. 
> 
> I promise I’m already working on chapter two! It just might take a bit ÚwÙ


	2. The Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beetlejuice didn’t take into consideration that his choice to get rid of his afterlife will have consequences. Now he is trapped in an infinite abyss with no way to directly contact Lydia.

The void was infinite, dark and abysmal. It was also cold, so so cold. Beetlejuice suddenly jerked back into conciseness. “So, this is what happens when you void your entire afterlife huh?” He chuckled, his laughter echoed deep into the endless darkness. Lydia would have laughed at that terrible pun; she had always enjoyed his humor. He sighed  
“Damn. I really fucked up this time huh?”.  
There was no response, just the echoing of the void. 

Suddenly the distant beeping of a car horn echoed through the dark, Beetlejuice whipped around, startled by the sudden noise, and saw him, the car salesman who got him into this predicament. Beetlejuice gritted his teeth and made his way over to the busted up car.  
“HEY! YOU SLEAZY SON OF A BITCH! GET OVER HERE!” The salesman turned to face him.  
“Ah, so someone seems unhappy with his bad choice. I’m not even surprised at this point.” The salesman said nonchalantly as he picked dirt out from under his fingernails. “So I’m assuming you’re getting bored in the endless void alone?” He sighed looking up at Beetlejuice.  
“I mean…Yeah? I didn’t think I’d still be existing after I got rid of my afterlife! I thought all my problems would be gone! You SAID MY PROBLEMS WOULD BE GONE!” Beetlejuice yelled, his hair turning a fiery red and catching fire at the tips. The salesman raised his hands defensively  
“Listen pal, I never said anything about all your problems being gone. I just said your afterlife would be. I don’t have the solution to all your problems I will admit, but I do have the solution to your boredom and your loneliness too.”  
Beetlejuice perked up  
“Solution to my boredom? Solution to my loneliness? Alright I’m intrigued. What are you gonna make me empty my wallet on this time?”  
The salesman reached into the glove compartment in his car and pulled out a vintage looking television set, which most definitely should not have been able to fit in there at all, however logic does not apply in the Neitherworld.  
“This bad boy will let you watch what any person in the realm of the living is doing at any time. You can sit in front of this and see how a certain Miss Lydia is doing…. “  
Beetlejuice’s eyes lit up.  
“I can see Lyds again?!”  
“Anytime you want pal. You’d just have to pay me $500,” The salesman slithered.  
“I’ll fuckin take it! My wallet’ll be devoid of money but I’ll be damned if I’m not able to check in on Lydia!” Beetlejuice yelled as he snatched the television set out of the salesman’s hands and threw the wallet in desperate exchange. “Keep the change, loser!”, and he sprinted away. 

Once he was far away enough, Beetlejuice gently set the television set down and turned it on. The dark screen whirred to life. The screen flashed white and then a picture of a young girl, not much older than 13, with jet black hair and a formal looking school uniform, presenting a project about garden slugs. The children around her were laughing, not with her, but at her.  
“Lyds…” Beetlejuice gasped “Oh God/Satan what have I done…” . He continued to watch though, as there’s nothing much else to do when you’re alone in an endless void, right?  
As he watched he started to reminisce about the happy memories he had made with Lydia, like the time he had turned her mom’s spaghetti into worms, or when Beetlejuice had tried to babysit a bunch of little baby monsters and Lydia had to defend him in court, and then defend him from an angry sandworm. He smiled a reminiscent smile. Lydia’s entire life was changed, ruined because of his own stupid choice.  
A single tear rolled down Beetlejuice’s cheek. He still couldn’t believe he had given up his whole afterlife before even seeing how it would affect Lydia! He looked over at the television screen again, Lydia looked so lonely and sad without him, her confidence, her positive attitude, and even her bright smile were all gone. It was as if they had never even been there in the first place.  
Beetlejuice screamed, he didn’t really know how else to express a feeling like this, he didn’t even really know what the feeling was. He felt a pang in his chest and then he realized. This situation was all his fault, and he couldn’t just con his way out like he usually would. He felt an awful sort of pit in his stomach as he realized just how much his decision affected Lydia’s life.  
“I… I should have checked. I should have made sure this choice wouldn’t make her life worse! GAH! I’M SO FUCKING STUPID!!” Beetlejuice couldn’t hold his tears back any longer. “I guess when nobody can see ya, you don’t really h...have to keep up your i...image.” He turned the television off and went to sit somewhere else and reminisce some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER TWO BABY!! Next chapter is gonna be from Lydia’s perspective again and things are gonna really start to pick up! 
> 
> Thank you to my lovely friend Amon for grammar checking this during gym class, you’re the real mvp dude.


	3. The Counselors’ Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia gets to visit her lovely (and not very familiar at all) school counselors and finishes making a lovable and monstrous new friend.

The moonlight seeped through Lydia’s blinds in her bedroom. It was the early hour of 3:00 AM and instead of sleeping, like she should have been doing on a school night, she was up working on her newest sewing project, a plush doll of the monstrous man she kept seeing in her dreams, Lydia had started to call him BJ, she didn’t know why, it just seemed to fit him. She sifted through the mason jar where she kept her buttons, trying to find the perfect pair for her new friend’s eyes, as she searched she found the perfect button for the eyes, it was a deep dark maroon with golden flecks. There was only one problem, the button didn’t have a pair. Lydia sighed  
“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”  
She sighed again and pulled out some deep red thread.  
“I guess I’ll have to make due with what I’ve got.” 

Lydia finished her final stitch on the way to school. It was 7:30 and she was absolutely exhausted, but she was done! She looked down at her new friend and smiled, it seemed to stare back with its single red button eye.  
“Hello BJ! I’m Lydia! It’s nice to meet you!” She said as she shook the doll’s hand. She felt a little silly but the whole introduction felt familiar. Delia looked back from the front seat of the car  
“Lydia!” She said cheerfully as they pulled up to the school “Don’t forget to visit your new counselors, Mr. and Mrs. Maitland today! And please try to not act so… morbid or strange in front of them. We have a reputation to uphold.”  
Lydia rolled her eyes and stuffed her new plushie into her backpack  
“You know having a counselor or two won’t fix the fact that I don’t have any real friends.” She replied as she got out of the car. 

School went about as well as it normally did. Claire teased Lydia for drawing monsters during art, Lydia had to be partnered up with Claire for her science lab too. So when lunch finally rolled around, Lydia was actually kinda grateful for the pass to the counselors’ office. Apparently since the school was so small, the two counselors shared an office. Lydia walked up to the door. It was nicely decorated, with a sign that said “Welcome!” on it. Lydia knocked on the door nervously,  
“Come in!” Chimed a voice from the other side. Lydia did as she was told and slowly opened the door. The office was softly lit by a decorative lamp in the corner and string lights on the ceiling. There were pictures of a happy couple on the wall and plants on the windowsill. Sitting at the desk was the couple from the pictures on the wall, a woman in a vintage looking yellow floral dress with brown curly hair that turned blonde at the tips. Next to her was a man in a plaid flannel shirt who was writing what seemed to be reports. They looked up at Lydia and the woman smiled,  
“Hello! You must be Lydia!” She shook Lydia’s hand “I’m Mrs. Maitland, but you can call me Barbara, and this is my husband, Adam!”  
Adam looked up from the papers he was writing on  
“Hello Lydia! It looks like you’re gonna be spending lunch in our office this semester, so I hope we’ll make better company than the empty table at lunch.” He said sympathetically as he gestured for Lydia to sit down at the seat across from them. “Come sit down. I promise Barb and I won't bite.” Lydia giggled a bit and sat down placing her lunchbox on the desk.  
“So tell us a bit about yourself honey,” Barbara said “Because all we really know about you is boring stuff from this file,” she gestured to a file lying on top of a stack of papers, “And we both really do want to know more about you, so we can help you as best as we can.” She said with a warm, motherly smile. Lydia was shocked, these people actually genuinely seemed to be interested in her for reasons other than finding someone to pick on.  
“Well, I guess I like to draw, I love to watch horror movies, I like to play some kinds of video games I guess…” She paused and thought for a moment, “Oh! I really like to sew. I’ve been making clothes for years and I really enjoy it! Last night I actually finished making my first plushie! Would you guys like to meet him?” Lydia rambled excitedly, until she realized what she had asked, “I...I mean only if you want to. I understand that it’s probably dumb and childish and that I should have grown out of plushies by now. I mean my dad says I should have, he thinks they’re dumb...”  
“Lydia!” Barbara interrupted her, “Honey don’t let other people decide what your interests are. You’re 13, it’s still perfectly acceptable to have stuffed animals. I mean Adam still has his favorite teddy bear.” She said sympathetically  
“Barbara! You can’t just tell people that I still sleep with that bear!” Adam replied panicked and then, realizing his error, turned to Lydia and said reassuringly “Don’t worry Lydia, I’m just joking. Having a stuffed animal is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact I could bring my bear in tomorrow! Now please show us this cool new friend of yours!” He  
“R-really?” Lydia said “You guys actually want to see him?”  
“Of course we do kiddo! I mean I’m already impressed that you were able to make a whole plushie on your own.” Adam replied excitedly  
“Oh! Alright, I just have to get him out first!” Lydia exclaimed as she unzipped her backpack and pulled BJ out. “Meet, BJ! He’s a ghost who is really funny and likes to play tricks on people, but deep down he’s really nice and cares about me.” She said, beaming as she held her new friend.  
“Oh! Hello!” Barbara said as she shook the doll’s hand “I’m glad we could meet you BJ. Lydia has told us all about you.” She giggled softly and looked over at Lydia, “Lydia, you’re a very very talented young girl. I’m so glad we’ll be getting to know you better.”

The rest of the school day was as dull and dreadful as they usually were. Lydia was a bit happier though since she got to have BJ sit in her lap as she worked and because her meeting with the Maitlands went really well. Lydia thought of how her counselors actually enjoyed her presence and how cool they thought her sewing projects were and smiled. She turned to the window next to her desk and stared at her reflection. As she looked at it, something else flickered into view, a man with untamed green hair, unnaturally pale, ghostlike skin, bright red eyes with cat-like pupils, and huge crooked yellowing fangs. It was him, the monster man from Lydia’s dreams. But how? She most certainly wasn’t sleeping. She shrugged the odd occurance off as just her imagination. After all, that monster never was, and never could be real, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp the true plot begins-ish! I still have one more character to really develop and then we can do actual rad plot stuff! I hope all this introductory stuff isn’t too boring to sit through though! 
> 
> Shoutout to my lovely test reader and Maitland expert @Blind_Band_Geek!


	4. Feelings of Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a peek into the home life of one Claire Brewster and learn more about why she acts the way she does. Feelings are revealed and a new friendship is formed. Or could it possibly be more than that?

The English lecture was dull and droning, it was so incredibly boring that Claire had a difficult time keeping her eyes open. Suddenly she heard a quiet gasp from across the classroom. She could recognize that gasp from anywhere, it was Lydia. She glanced over at the pale, ghost-like girl who sat next to her. She really was beautiful, even though Claire hated to admit it, her eyes were a deep forest green and her hair was dark as night. She had shimmery pink and purple eyeshadow and deep red lipstick, which were applied perfectly. Before she knew it Claire was lost in thought about Lydia until something reflected in the window next to her caught her attention, a man with messy hair and a striped suit. He looked just like that dumb doll Lydia had brought in with her that day. Claire blinked and suddenly the man was gone, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.   
“Miss Brewster! Please stop staring at Miss Deetz and pay attention!” Miss Shannon’s voice pierced the silence that the classroom had been in. Claire looked over, startled   
“Sorry Miss.” She said nervously, and returned to her worksheet. 

-

The rest of the school day was fairly normal, Claire took time out of her passing periods to tease Lydia about going to see the counselors   
“You’re DESPERATE enough for friends to sit with at lunch that to go to the counselors’ office?! You really ARE a loser Lydia!” She had said, though deep down, she hadn’t meant it, she knew about what had happened to Lydia’s biological mother and she knew that going through something like that could mess someone up. She had gone and talked about fashion with some of her friends after that incident to distract her from the guilt she felt.   
After school the Brewster Family’s butler came to pick Claire up. Her parents had always been too busy for her, in fact she wasn’t sure they even cared. As she sat in the back of the car she looked up at the driver,  
“Eric, why do I feel guilty whenever I make fun of Lydia?” She said quietly, almost as if she didn’t want him to hear. Eric sighed, he had heard Claire’s troubles with this classmate of hers before and he didn’t particularly care.   
“Listen Claire. I’m not a fucking therapist. I’m just here to get paid.” He said rudely “Now get out of the car, we’re home.” 

Claire walked into the empty house. No parents. They must be on a business trip again. Then again they wouldn’t greet her if they were home, so there wasn’t much of a difference. She sighed, set down her backpack, and looked out at the empty house before her. Most kids would have happy memories from their younger years in their house, but not Claire. She really couldn’t think of any times her parents willingly interacted with her, every time it had been her initiating the conversation and every time they never seemed to care. Hell, her mom had even described her as ‘Only necessary for the insurance benefits’.  
Claire looked away. She didn’t like to think of her parents too much. In an attempt to ignore the sudden pit in her stomach that had come from thinking of them, she turned and headed up to her room.   
When she reached her room, Claire decided to turn her mind to other things. She sat down at her desk and thought back to the odd events in the classroom that day. She was almost sure that that… creature… no, monster, that she had seen reflected in the window next to Lydia’s desk that day. She would have believed that that monster was a figment of her imagination but if she had imagined it, then why did Lydia react to it the way she did? The way she had gasped and stared at the window, it was for sure that she had seen that creature in the window. Then again Lydia had seemed to recognize it, which made sense considering the creature looked like that weird doll Lydia had started to carry around, Claire was lost in thought for a good 30 minutes. Eventually her thoughts drifted from the monster man in the window, to Lydia herself. Claire sighed wistfully and flopped down onto her bed. She felt so conflicted, her parents would be furious if they knew how Claire felt about Lydia, but Claire knew, deep in her heart, that she couldn’t ignore her feelings. In that moment, Claire just knew, she needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t tell her parents anything, someone like… a counselor. As she thought about this, Claire fell asleep. 

-

The next day was a fairly uneventful school day until the third period, that was the period when Claire was supposed to visit the counselors’ office. She had never done something like that before, it felt like she was admitting defeat by asking for help, but she knew she couldn’t just keep fighting with herself. When she reached the door, she nervously knocked. She heard a friendly voice call out from behind the door  
“Come in!”  
Claire cautiously opened the door. The office inside was unlike any room she had ever been in, there were lamps and string lights glowing all around, which gave the room a warm, comforting feel. The chairs all had pillows on them and there were a variety of strange objects on the desk. The walls were covered in pictures of a couple smiling and hugging each other, Claire’s house didn’t have anything like that with her parents, then again, they weren’t really in love anymore. Sitting in front of her were the two people from the pictures, a tall woman in a blue button up dress which was covered in sunflowers, and next to her, a man who was a good 5 inches shorter wearing a black and white plaid flannel with a raggedy old teddy bear sitting on his lap. The man waved for Claire to come sit down,  
“Heya kiddo! What’s your name?”  
Claire slowly sat down across from the couple,   
“Uh… well.. My name is Claire, Claire Brewster. I uh… really need your guys’ help.”  
The woman looked up from her paperwork and smiled softly,   
“What do you need help with, sweetheart? Is it someone here at school, or something else?”   
“Its… something else.” Claire said quietly and then she paused “I.... I… I really really like this girl, but I know it’s not in a friend way because I constantly push her away, but I know that if my parents find out that I like her, they’ll totally disown me and… and..” Claire broke down in tears “I just… can’t keep pushing her away and I don’t know how to fix the damage I caused. What should I do?” Claire said through heavy sobs.  
“Oh honey!” the woman gasped “It’s okay don’t worry! I promise Adam and I won’t tell your parents. And we’ll help you get through this.”   
“Yeah Claire! Now would you like to maybe, talk to the girl and try to explain things to her?” Adam said   
“Yeah… That could really help…” Claire said as she dried her eyes, “Do you think we can invite her to come down here now? I… I really wanna fix things.”   
“Of course Claire! What’s her name?” The woman said   
“L...Lydia Deetz. Her name is Lydia Deetz” Claire replied, embarrassed.   
“Lydia! Oh we know Lydia!” Adam exclaimed “I’ll go get her.” He said as he walked over to the door. 

-

Soon Adam returned with Lydia in tow, they were talking happily and showing each other their plushie pals. Though as soon as Lydia saw Claire her expression changed.   
“Claire? What are you doing here?”  
“Lydia. I just wanna talk. Please.” Claire said   
Lydia sat down next to Claire   
“Fine. What do you want Claire?” She said bluntly   
“Lydia I… I’m sorry for being so… mean all the time. I… I’m just trying to deal with my feelings. I actually really like you. You’re beautiful and creative and I just… I really wish I was a person like you.” Claire said   
Lydia turned a bright shade of pink and was silent for a moment.   
“Claire? Are you… trying to tell me that you have a crush on me? Because I never would have thought you were… ya know, a lesbian?” She replied.  
Claire blushed,  
“Lydia! I’m not a…” Claire paused “Ya know what? I guess I am!” Claire laughed.  
Lydia smiled “Hey Claire, I just wanna let you know that… I forgive you. I’m fully willing to be friends with you actually! Maybe even…” she looked away “..more than friends.”   
“Lydia! I’d love to!” Claire hugged her. Suddenly she gasped and let go, “Lydia… look at the window."  
Lydia looked where Claire was pointing, "Is that? The monster from my dreams?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long to write this! My motivation just like, disappeared! But now I'm kinda getting into a routine so hopefully I'll be writing more! 
> 
> Also! Next chapter is another Lydia chapter and hopefully you all will see more of Beetlejuice soon ;3


	5. Ghostly Hauntings I Turn Loose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire discovers the secret history of the Brewster family and their connections with the dead. And the Ghost with the Most finally makes a true and solid appearance.

Lydia looked up to where Claire was pointing and gasped, it was him again, reflected in the window. The monster man with his long wild green hair and huge fangs.   
“Is that…? The Monster from my dreams?” she said, bewildered.   
“From your dreams?” Claire replied confused.  
“What are you two looking at?” Barbara asked, turning around and looking at the window, “There is nothing there…”   
Lydia looked down and pulled BJ out of her bag  
“Oh! We were just talking about BJ here! Ya know, because he’s a monster?”  
“Yeah! We were just talking about BJ…” Claire said, looking over at Lydia.   
Barbara looked over at the two girls suspiciously   
“Alright…. Now I think you two should head back to class. Adam and I will see you tomorrow Lydia.” she said.   
“Alright! Goodbye Mrs. Maitland!   
On their way back to class, Lydia turned to Claire,   
“So you can see him too?”  
“If by ‘Him’ you mean that monster guy in the striped suit, then yes. I can see him. He looks like a fucking mess and a fashion DISASTER. But... he also seems sad. Part of me really wants to help him.” Claire explained “Why do you ask Lydia?”  
Lydia looked back over at Claire   
“I feel like I recognize him from somewhere. But I can’t remember where. But I feel like I have to rescue him, and if you can see him then, maybe you can help me get to him!” She exclaimed  
“How do you think I could possibly help you? I mean if this is even remotely real then it’s not like I can do much, I’m only 13, and the only things I know much about are fashion and capitalism. I don’t know anything about the supernatural.” Claire interjected.   
“Well considering that you can see him, you might be more helpful than you think Claire. Maybe you can come over to my house and maybe we can try to figure out how to help him.” Lydia said.   
“R-really?!” Claire exclaimed, shocked at how kind Lydia was being. “But Lydia! I’d be totally useless in helping you!”   
“Claire! I promise you can help me! I know I can’t do this alone!” Lydia exclaimed.   
“Alright, alright! I’ll help you Lydia!” 

-

After school that day, Lydia and Claire walked back to Lydia’s house together. Claire seemed happier than she had been in months, she was smiling and holding Lydia’s hand as they walked along the sidewalk together. Occasionally Claire would see a passerby wearing something questionable and would whisper jokes about their outfit to Lydia.   
“I genuinely cannot believe we’ve never hung out before!” Claire said as they approached Lydia’s house.   
“Well Claire you DID kinda hate my guts before we talked today. So it’s really no wonder we never hung out before.” Lydia replied in a matter of fact tone, “Who would have guessed we’d be here though. I cannot believe we’re actually having fun together.”   
The two girls eventually reached Lydia’s house after laughing and joking the whole way there. As they entered the home Lydia shouted   
“Hey Mom! I have a friend sleeping over so we can work on a group project! So please don’t disturb us!”   
“Wow Lydia, blatantly lying to your mom?” Claire whispered teasing her as they ran up the stairs to Lydia’s room.   
The room was bright thanks to the sunlight pouring in through the large windows. There were tacky Halloween decorations and old horror movie posters decorating the wall over a desk covered in drawing supplies and fabric scraps. On the opposite wall there was a large bed with a red fabric canopy over it and plush versions of various movie monsters sitting against the pillows. In another corner was a dark purple couch and a small TV which had several game systems hooked up to it and a pile of movies next to it. Next to the couch was a red and gold chest which was filled with old, well loved toys.  
“You really like horror movies huh?” Claire remarked  
“Oh!” Lydia said laughing nervously “Yeah, they’re a huge interest of mine. I’ve been really really into vampires specifically recently.” She said gesturing to some figures on her night stand “Anyway I think we should focus less on my taste in movie monsters and focus more on finding out exactly why you can see my monster man.”   
“Find out why?? Lydia are you suggesting we do some research into my goddamn family tree?” Claire asked surprised   
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Lydia said as she pulled a laptop out of her bag. After several minutes of furious typing Lydia gasped “Claire come here! I think I found something!”   
“What could you have possibly found Lydia?” Claire said looking up from Lydia’s old toy chest which she was absent mindedly rummaging through  
“Well it’s an old legend about a woman who lived here around the time the town was first founded, like in the 1700’s! Apparently this woman could see and communicate with the dead! And guess what her name was!” Lydia explained excitedly.   
“What was her name Lyds?” Claire asked bluntly  
“Abigail Brewster! You must be related to her somehow Claire!” Lydia explained matter of factly. “Look! Apparently ever since she married her husband, the Brewster family name has been continually passed down, and your family is the only family with that last name in town. You guys are totally related!” she continued, as excited as ever. “That must mean that your ability to see our monster man is something that runs in your family!”  
“Lydia that’s interesting and all but I think that’s a little far fetched right? I mean how would I just suddenly be able to see ghosts? I’ve never seen ghosts before this!” Claire said  
Lydia stopped and pondered for a moment, this had to be the answer! Right? It’s not like there could be any other explanation.   
Claire sighed “You know what? Forget it. I’m seeing goddamn ghosts and monster men, I don’t think anyone could fully rationally explain that.” she said.   
Lydia giggled at Claire’s statement “I guess you’re right Claire. We don’t really need to rationalize the strange and unusual.”  
The two girls continued to talk about ghosts, and then later their classmates and other school related things. Eventually the two ended up sitting on Lydia’s couch, watching cheesy horror movies and laughing together. It was almost like they had been friends the whole time. Suddenly the television screen flickered and the monster man appeared on the screen. The two girls gasped   
“CLAIRE DO YOU SEE…?!”   
“LYDIA IT’S HIM!!”  
The man looked right at them and tilted his head. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled   
“Lyds! Can ya see me?” he exclaimed in a raspy but excited voice. “It’s me! Your best dead pal! Beetlejuice!”   
Lydia jumped a bit when he said her name. He knew who she was. She knew he had felt familiar, but how could she have forgotten her apparent “best friend”?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn we finally got friendship! And Beetlejuice is back-ish. I've had the Brewster family's supernatural connections planned since I started first planning this story so I'm really happy I finally got to incorporate it into the story! Anyway sorry this took so long to get finished, quarantine has been killing my motivation recently.


	6. Static Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beetlejuice has a realization about who is truly at fault in this situation and the Salesman offers some less than polite advice.

“Lyds!! Lyds can ya see me?!” Beetlejuice yelled into the television screen as he desperately dug his claws into the sides of the television. He just wanted to speak with her again, his beloved best friend. He was tearing up, the loneliness of the void was really starting to get to him. Beetlejuice missed having adventures with her in the Neitherworld, he missed hearing her laugh whenever he made a shitty pun, and he missed scaring Jaques and Ginger.   
He saw Lydia tilt her head in confusion. Shit, Beetlejuice had forgotten that she didn’t know him after he had given up his afterlife. He put on a huge goofy grin and exclaimed   
“It’s me! Your best dead pal! Beetlejuice!!”   
The Lydia on the screen jumped back in surprise. Beetlejuice’s best friend didn’t recognize him at all. She didn’t know who he was, but what was even stranger was the fact that she had had a new friend with her, Claire Brewster!And then he realized, he had been replaced.   
Beetlejuice’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “You replaced me Lyds?!”   
“Wait!!” she yelled, but it was too late. Beetlejuice shut off the television set, cutting off the connection between him and Lydia. 

Beetlejuice was sitting on the floor sulking a little ways away from the television set. His striped suit jacket was on the ground behind him. His eyes filled with tears and he felt his anger bubbling up inside him. He couldn’t believe that Lydia had replaced him, with Claire Brewster nonetheless. He screamed, his voice echoing into the darkened void. Suddenly, he heard a car sputtering in the distance. The Salesman had returned. Beetlejuice’s ears lowered, and the tips of his hair started to turn red with rage with purple streaks of worry throughout.   
“That sleazy bastard…” he grumbled, as he stood up to talk with the Salesman again. He brushed off his suit and walked over to the car.   
“So you had another meltdown huh?” the Salesman said as he nonchalantly took a puff of his cigarette.   
“I-” Beetlejuice started to speak but was quickly interrupted by the Salesman   
“You think she replaced you, don’t you?” he said as he tapped the ashes from his cigarette onto Beetlejuice’s suit “But you didn’t even talk to her, or Claire for that matter. You don’t know their true intentions.”   
“But she replaced me!! She forgot about me and then ran off with Claire Brewster!!” Beetlejuice yelled, the red in his hair darkening,   
“Hold on! Don’t forget, YOU’RE the one who made her forget! You gave up your afterlife, and your friendship with Lydia.” The salesman teased. “This is all your doing Beetlejuice.”   
Beetlejuice’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized that this situation was his fault, and he was the one that had made Lydia forget. She couldn’t forget him if she never knew he existed. The Salesman noticed the look on Beetlejuice’s face   
“So you finally realized your faults? That’s good.” he said “Now I can tell you what Lydia and Claire are really doing.”   
Beetlejuice perked up “What?”   
“Well they’re trying to summon YOU back. Using that TV they can see you sometimes, as it creates a connection between our world and theirs. They’re going to need to do some type of ritual to summon you.”   
“They want to summon ME?”  
“They don’t quite understand that it’s YOU but that’s the basics of what they’re doing.” the salesman replied. Beetlejuice smiled,   
“I knew Lyds wouldn’t truly forget me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! But I promise next chapter will be longer! I also promise I won't make EVERY Beetlejuice chapter overly angsty and sad but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.   
> Anyway the next chapter is hopefully going to be a pretty plot heavy chapter so look forward to that!


End file.
